Oh my god - Have I really done that for Nothing!!

AS THE PAST NO.1 former professional American tennis player John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) used to shout out in exasperation whilst playing tennis 'I cannot believe this!', as he bashed his tennis racket on the lawn then subsequently threw it across the ground at the professional Wimbledon tennis club, London, so too is exactly what I feel like doing at this very moment... well that was me yesterday to be precise; although I do not exactly have a tennis racket but instead a computer - that I think simply decide that it hated me there and then.

Okay so I imagine that every writer on a personal computer or laptop, has had this happen to them before - once, twice, or even three times; if you are extremely unlucky then it damn well keeps happening too, (especially me.) I got up yesterday, washed up, did some laundry, made a cup of steaming coffee and, decided to sit down and type another article initially based upon addiction gaming. As anyone who has (hopefully) read & hearted any other of my articles will know, I headed straight for a chocolate bar to calm my strayed nerves, after just having spent two hours putting together an article, just for the dreaded blue screen of death to rear its ugly head right in front of my eyes. As much as I do try to remember to periodically save my work every few minutes to be on the safe side, this time, of course, I had forgotten to this time - I had written the article mostly up until that moment it happened, but when I finally got the computer reset and defragmented, I discovered to my horror that approximately 80% had been lost to the star-like oblivion of the forgotten land.

Talk about an addiction.

I decide to utilize a bit of mindfulness to help myself from feeling crushed and humiliated by the loss of this 80%. I diverted myself by just having a look at some old family pictures, another steaming cuppa, a diverting chat with my wife, (yes here it comes, and a chocolate bar!) and decided that enough was enough for the day - choosing to watch a good science fiction program on Netflix (I love Star Trek and have followed this ever after my brother got me into it when I was just at the age of just eight) so the choice of what to watch there was simply just a 'no brainer' to me. We all at some point in our lives say we are addicted to some form or the other, and my wife definitely thinks that I am addicted to television, chocolate, coffee, and (yes, as every article writer knows this) the computer; after all, technology has shaped us that way over time - how many do not use a pen, paper, and notepaper anymore - in fact, how many of us have NOT bought a stamp for some time now?

What with the convenience and the efficiency provided by emails, copy & paste, it is quicker, and certainly helps us with getting grammar and punctuation correct (we have become reliant on facilities like this, such as spellchecker have we not?)

I remember one of my old secondary school teachers telling our computer classes (with the old Apple-2 computers) that:

'A Bad Workman Always Blames His Tools!' meaning that blaming his tools is a way of not owning up to his mistakes or taking responsibility for a job not done well. Our teacher came out with this after one of his pupils could not manage to get his computer program to work, telling the teacher that the computer was faulty, when the teacher checked his Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Code (BASIC) coding, he told him that he had forgotten to type a few command lines to make it work - the fault of the pupil NOT the computer. Just going to show that considerable content problems are person-based and not computer-based. To a certain degree that was me yesterday with the blue screen of death - after leaving it alone and practicing some mindfulness, I realize that the criticism of my file loss had been my 'bad work' only. So it is very important to stand back and take a break - and have a good think before trying again...

And So To The More Sinister Side.

Children play games. That is both good for fun and for a hobby, it provides a calmness (like a 'reset button' even.) Adults need some time to relax and enjoy leisure activities too that may include some sort of gaming; a simple excerpt tool from mindfulness provides needed escapism from the world of work & stress. Sometimes though, susceptibility to gaming addiction can be seen in very much the same way that others can be susceptible to alcohol dependency. Gaming addiction is every bit as real as any other kind of addiction.

The Important Bits - Data

But I promise not to bore you with oo much of it - that can be stressful at times too!

Neilson statistics recorded that 1 in 9 out of 100 people suffered from some form of gaming addiction - reportedly higher within groups showing more impulsive behaviours (Video Game Statistics 2020, Healthy Gamer). The American Psychiatric Association (APA) discusses this developing area but at the time of publishing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in 2013, there was insufficient data to publish this within the DSM-5. However, it was further studied to provide ample professional recognition, thereby becoming listed within the 2019 updated edition of the DSM-6 as Internet Gaming Addiction.

Likewise, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) lists Internet Gaming Addiction currently within their recent published edition update of the ICD-11, published in 2020.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has therefore made this endorsable as a mental health concern.

Symptoms To Watch.

-- Preoccupation with games & constantly thinking about previous games played. Consistently thinking of playing the next game. Quickly becoming a major activity within daily life.

-- Use of playing more as an aid in lowering negative moods, such as guilt, anxiety, hopelessness, frustration and/or anger

-- Using deceitful tactics to others when the gamer is confronted over the amount of time they are playing for

-- Self-imposing behaviours such as shutting yourself way in a room and locking the door, so as to ensure they are not interrupted (a considerable amount of online gaming companies are feeding this craving by banning them from an online game if they leave a game they are playing)

-- Spending considerable time periods in their room, and not engaging with their family around them

-- Greater levels of low mood & depression developing

-- Loss of interest in relationships, previous hobbies, and other entertainment

-- Risk of losing college placements, or employment (inclusive of offers)

-- Continual tiredness because of late-night playing rather than sleeping

-- Continuing to play even when they may have accepted that it is becoming a problem

-- Withdrawal. When the facility to play is taken away (for whatever reason) the person will start to show signs of anger, irritability, loss of focus around them, sweating, anxiety, and agitation (please remember though this list is NOT exhaustive and you may notice more)

I freely admit to my addiction to chocolate, however, I never go overboard and know when enough is enough. As you can well see from the above, it can quickly become a dangerous social difficulty for the person.

I understand that some may take a view that it is not as bad as illegal drug-taking (as defined by the Misuse of Drugs Act,1971) as under schedule 2, part 1, but, both are damaging healthwise when you consider that they are all social problems that must be treated with all seriousness. Take a good look around you and your families and can you notice any of these symptoms within your own friends and/or family?

If you do, it is just like any other medical or mental health issue, speak with your family doctor, local mental health team, counsellor, or addictions support group in your area.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please read and click the heart after reading. Anyone choosing to tip me, well, thank you so much - in advance for it - hearts are great but tips help me succeed and do better but remember they are not obligatory.

More of my articles can be found at: https://vocal.media/authors/jonathan-townend